If the cold and snow comes, here’s how Whatcom will be ready for it
Forecasters are confident that at least some snow could fall in the lowlands around Whatcom County on Sunday night and Monday morning, and school officials, road crews and others are getting ready just in case.
“You guys have the best chance of snow of all of us, but it’s still pretty uncertain,” meteorologist Dana Felton at the National Weather Service in Seattle said Friday. “If you do get some, it won’t be much -- maybe an inch.”
Felton said in an interview with The Bellingham Herald that it could be Saturday or Sunday before forecasters are more confident about the possibility of snow in lowland Whatcom County.
But it will be chilly and brisk as winds shift to the northeast and funnel cold air through the Fraser Valley of British Columbia, a Northwest weather pattern known as the Fraser Outflow.
“Eventually, you’ll get those outfall winds, but the snow is still a variable scenario,” he said.
After a relatively mild fall and winter, daytime high temperatures will be in the 30s, with overnight lows in the 20s and teens, starting Sunday and lasting for several days, Felton said.
Winds of 25 to 40 mph are possible, with gusts to 50 mph, he said.
Environment Canada’s forecast for Abbotsford, B.C., north of Sumas, calls for a strong chance of rain and snow showers or flurries Sunday, followed by a lesser chance of flurries overnight into Monday.
Emergency preparations
John Gargett, deputy director of the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office Division of Emergency Management, said that road crews and others are mobilizing just in case and his office is watching forecasts in the U.S. and Canada.
“Public works is getting ready, in case the roads do get slick,” Gargett said in an interview with The Herald. “My gut tells me that we’re going to get something.”
At the county Public Works Department, dump trucks will be on the roads with sand and snowplows if conditions warrant.
“We have a late night shift that we send, depending on the weather forecast,” said Andy Bowler, superintendent of maintenance and operations.
“We’ll have tree crews ready on call if things go south,” Bowler said in an interview with The Herald.
Bellingham Public Works supervisors are keeping an eye on the weather and the city has a plan for snow emergencies, said Eric Johnston, assistant public works director - operations.
“Our de-icer tanks are full and ready for application,” Johnston said in an email to The Herald. “Snow plows and sanding trucks are prepped, fueled and ready to go. Sand and salt bins are full and ready be used.”
With the cold weather forecast, homeless advocates have been preparing extra shelter space and an appeal was sent for warm blankets and sleeping bags on the Facebook page of Winter Haven Tent Community, the encampment near Bellingham City Hall.
Schools watch the weather
In the Lynden area, which saw a little snow in December, school officials check the roads in the wee hours and let students and staff know about a closure by 5:30 a.m., said Lynden School District Superintendent Jim Frey.
“If weather is bad enough that we can make the decision the evening before, we try to do so to give folks more time to plan for any interruption,” Frey said in an email to The Herald.
Bellingham Public Schools was sending a weather reminder to staff and families, said Dana Smith, communications manager.
“We’ve definitely been watching those forecasts closely,” Smith said in an email to The Herald..
Meanwhile, up to a foot of snow is likely in the North Cascades, where the National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory.
Avalanche danger was considerable in the Mount Baker wildness backcountry, the Northwest Avalanche center said on its website.
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